Gourmet Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

March 16, 2019August 30, 2015 by Michel

Gourmet Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

These gourmet sausage stuffed mushrooms are literally the easiest appetizer ever. Wipe the mushrooms off with a damp paper towel or mushroom brush, add your favorite sausage and bake for 15-20 minutes! There is no need for chopping or sauteing. You remove the sausage meat out of the casing it comes in, fill the mushroom caps and viola! In this recipe I used two pork sausages Italian garlic herb, and a chorizo sausage made with spices like chili and paprika. I also used two chicken sausages one made with jalapeño, fennel and cilantro and the other with feta and spinach that I bought at Whole Foods Markets.

There are so many specialty sausages to choose from out there that you can’t go wrong stuffing these baby bells! All the work is done for you so take advantage of these gourmet sausage products and stuff these mushrooms for an incredibly scrumptious appetizer that will continue to get raves from your guests.

Mushrooms are probably one of my favorite vegetables to eat. Give me Chanterelle mushrooms in a brandy cream sauce and I am in complete heaven. But here all you need is a simple button shaped mushroom with some room under the cap for filling.You can use a white button mushroom for these gourmet sausage stuffed mushrooms but what I prefer are Baby Bells because they are packed with flavor.

Another great specialty meat product called D’Artagnan offers many different sausages. One in particular is a mix of pork, duck, duck liver and egg white and is out of this world! This type of sausage is called Boudin and is very popular in New Orleans. It has distinct flavors that you might just start to crave after you have tried it. I really like D’Artagnan and I have found that Bishops Orchards Market in Guilford, CT carries a wide variety of their products. This brand offers a lot of duck products which Bishops also carries. Anything with duck or goose whether it be breast or liver is a no brainer in my book…YUM!

You can have these stuffed mushrooms for hors’ d oeurves before serving stuffed roulades of chicken on a garlic-bean purée, Asian shrimp & rice noodle salad, turkey stuffed peppers or Chilean sea bass with green goddess sauce II for dinner.

Ingredients – Makes 20-24 Stuffed Mushrooms:

2 pkgs of baby bella mushrooms (2- 8 oz. pkgs. will get you 20 and 2-10 oz. will get you 24)
1 lb. – a variety of your favorite flavored sausages
Sprinkle of salt and pepper- (for after the mushrooms come out of the oven)
Fresh shaved Reggiano Parmesano
Fresh chopped chives for garnish

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400º
Clean your baby Bella mushrooms off with either a damp paper towel or a mushroom brush … you should NEVER wash your mushrooms or submerse them in water because mushrooms are porous.
Pop out the mushroom stems
Drizzle 2-3 Tbsp olive oil across a cookie sheet and rub it with your hands or use a brush to smear all of the olive oil across the baking sheet
Place all of the baby bella mushroom caps on the olive oil and roll them around lightly coating mushrooms then make sure they are all open side up on cookie tray
Slice open the sausage casings to get the sausage meat out and place on a small dish
Begin to gently fill mushroom caps with approximately 1 1/2 Tbsp of sausage per mushroom (some may be smaller and only need 1 Tbsp)
Do not pack in sausage just lightly stuff mushroom caps
Bake for 15-20 minutes til slightly crispy on the edges
DO NOT SALT the mushrooms before you bake them because all the water will release from the mushrooms and they will steam instead of baking
When you take the mushrooms out of the oven THEN you can sprinkle a little salt
The mushrooms will be juicy when you take them out of the oven so before you place them on a serving dish tilt them a little over the cookie tray that way some of the juice can drain out onto the tray and not on the serving platter
Shave a little Parmesan and chives on the mushrooms and serve

Cold Cucumber Soup

December 9, 2021August 23, 2015 by Michel

Cold Cucumber Soup

This homemade cold cucumber soup is out of this world! It has texture and flavors that won’t stop! Not one of the flavors in this soup over powers another, it’s the perfect balance. You actually find yourself trying to distinguish between them only because you are aware of all the fresh vegetables and herbs that went into this amazing cold soup.

Being a born and raised East Coaster I have to say I have never been a big “cold soup” kind of person. With our unbearably cold winters we have here I really appreciate a very hot bowl of soup to warm the bones. So when ever I’m making this cold cucumber soup I’m slightly biased going in, not willing to give merit where it is due, until I take my first spoonful and it all changes!

My cold cucumber soup completely stands on it’s own and is very satisfying not to mention the medicinal qualities that cucumbers offer. Cucumber’s can reduce puffiness, help to eliminate toxins in your body and we all know that slice’s of cucumber over your eyes can help to reduce dark circles! Some of the vitamin’s cucumber’s offer are A, C and folic acid and minerals of potassium and magnesium. All and all this homemade cold cucumber soup is a win win situation.

This homemade cold cucumber soup would be great for lunch with a side sandwich or grill up some shrimp like I did in the show. One of my favorite accents to this soup are seared scallops cut in half and placed right in the center on the soup. You can check out in my “Seared Scallop Show” to see exactly how to make the scallops.

King crab meat is also a lovely topping to this cold cucumber soup and was a big hit when I presented this soup this way to the tasting judges at my second MasterChef open casting call in NYC this past March (2016)! All of the MasterChef casting call judges didn’t have any critique for my soup during the tasting phase…they just said “they really, really loved it!” When I made my cucumber soup for the MasterChef casting call I added fresh fennel to the recipe to change it up and give it that je ne sais qua…that extra special something!

This cold cucumber soup is an amazing way to start your dinner party or even have for a luncheon. If you are thinking of other course’s to add to your soup you should check out my stuffed mushrooms, yogurt chicken kabobs, bolognese sauce with homemade pasta and end with my perfect chocolate cake that will rock your world! Enjoy 🙂

mushrooms 025

Ingredients:

2 European cucumbers peeled and cubed – 4 1/2 cups – you do not need to remove seeds with the European cucumbers
If you are using regular cucumbers, peel and slice down the middle and remove the seeds scooping them out with a small spoon and cut into chunks
3 ex-lg green onions or 5 small sliced in 1″ pieces from green tips to whitish green stems
1/4 cup of diced cherry tomatoes OR diced heirloom tomatoes
½ an avocado cut in chunks
1 jalapeño chopped (take out seeds)
1 lg garlic clove put through garlic press
1 cup plus 2 tbsp Greek Yogurt – whole milk
1/3 cup fresh dill
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp of honey
1/4 cup of seasoned rice vinegar
juice from 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt – to taste – (NOTE: I said 1 tsp in the show but I meant to say 1/2 tsp!)
1/4 tsp finely ground pepper

-FOR COLD CUCUMBER & FENNEL SOUP …ADD:

1 cup cut up fresh FENNEL …for a change up try this with the FENNEL – YUM!
chopped fresh chives for garnish
seared scallops , cooked Lobster, Shrimp, or Crab to top the soup in the center

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in the list above to your blender except olive oil
Begin to puree while slowly pouring in olive oil through the opening at the top
Continue to puree for 20-30 seconds
Be patient, all the vegetables in the cucumber soup will begin to slowly puree
Stop and scrape down any herbs or vegetables stuck on the side’s and pulse for 10 more seconds
Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour
Serve with a sprinkle of dill, finely chopped tomato, cucumber and avocado
Top the center of the soup with seared scallops – room temperature cooked lobster, king crab meat, or shrimp AND then a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

“Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake”

March 16, 2019August 17, 2015 by Michel

“Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake”

ghostpeepstwo The name “perfectly chocolate chocolate cake” pretty much sums it up right there although you won’t know how easy it is to make this homemade gourmet chocolaty cake until you give it a go! This incredible cake and frosting made from Hershey’s Cocoa Powder I have been making for almost 20 years now! Once you see how easy it is to make these moist and chocolaty homemade cakes you’ll never go back to the box again! Besides on my blog you can find these recipe’s right on the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa canister.

I was first turned on to the recipe by a mother-daughter baking team that I met about 20 years ago. They were professional baking contestants from the Midwest who had won numerous times. My quest at the time was to find the “perfect” chocolate cake and their answer was the Hershey’s Cocoa recipe. Not that the name itself on the back of the Hershey canister for this chocolate cake recipe wasn’t “perfect” enough I just couldn’t take the irony of it all so off I was trying out the recipe and baking this cake! It had such a lovely texture without being too dense or heavy. It was oh so chocolaty and moist to top it off. The amount of steps and effort put in to making this cake is pretty much equal to that of making a box cake so why would you ever resort back to making box ever again. You know me, I test other recipes to make sure I have the best and I always go back to the Hershey Cocoa recipe!

The Hershey’s “perfectly chocolate chocolate frosting” is one that should not be over looked either. The frosting is amazing and one of my favorite go to recipes totally blowing away that “canned” stuff with the plastic lid. I am really excited for these recipe’s to become a couple of your favorites too. You may find your friends and family requesting “your” perfectly chocolate cake for their next visit! I hope you enjoy the show!

You should check out my Green Goddess Dip & Sweet Potato Fries for an appetizer! what ever you do DON’T FORGET TO ROAST your PUMKIN SEEDS! And how about some green ghoul Best Guacamole Guacmole Ever! Or be creative with another dessert placing eatable eyballs on top a homemade Chocolate Meringue Pie!

guaca

ghostpeepstwo

Ingredients for Cake:

1 3/4 cups white sugar -(Hershey recipe calls for 2 cups white sugar)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey Cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking powder -(Hershey recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda -(Hershey recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp)
NOTE: I like to use 1 1/4 tsp baking powder & 1 1/4 tsp baking soda instead of the “Hershey” recipe that calls for 1 1/2 tsp for both because this produces a cake that is a little more moist because it doesn’t rise fully, and sometimes I even use 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1/2 tsp baking soda for a cake that has more of a pudding texture (not too dense or heavy either …just pudding like) Have fun!
1 tsp salt
2 lg. eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

TO MAKE GHOST CAKE THIS IS WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Find at “Michaels Stores” No. 1-3 Find at “Fresh Market” No. 4

Ghost peeps
Eatable eyballs
Cookie Icing to write on small Hershey chocolate bars for tomb stone’s “RIP”
Spider web stretchy candy (stretchy cotton candy-like) – stretch all around base & in between chocolate bar tomb stone’s
Confectioner’s sugar sprinkled on top to look like a dusting of snow!
Hershey chocolate bars-small ones-write on back “RIP” with Icing in bottle SHOWN ABOVE
Glue candy eye’s and anchor tomb stone’s to cake with the cookie icing

Directions for Cake…NOTE- I Bake My Cake On Convection:

Pre-heat oven to 350º
Grease and flour 2 – 9″ round baking pans
Add all dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine
Add in eggs, milk vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes
Stir in 1 cup boiling water til combined (batter will be thin)
Pour evenly into cake pans
Bake for 30-35 minutes –NOTE: I ALWAYS take the cake out at 30 minutes!
Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes
Remove cakes from pans, place on cookie racks to cool completely before frosting
I cool for 1 hour then immediately frost the cake

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 stick of butter melted
2/3 cup Hershey Cocoa
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1/3 cup plus 1-2 tbsp milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions for Frosting:

Melt butter and add to lg bowl
Add in Hershey Cocoa and vanilla and whisk til smooth
Alternate adding in a tbsp of milk and 1/4 powdered sugar while beating on medium speed til smooth
When texture is smooth add in more milk and powdered sugar until all is gone and it’s the thick creamy consistency you want

Salmon B.L.T. Sliders at Marco’s

March 16, 2019August 9, 2015 by Michel

Salmon B.L.T. Sliders at Marco’s

These gourmet salmon B.L.T. sliders are like no other you have ever had before. It’s a genius sandwich offering up a sweetness with the tenderly seared Sockeye salmon fillets to the salty in the roasted pancetta and lets not forget the scrumptious homemade aioli with lemon zest and garlic. Then there is the peppery baby arugula and juicy tomato slices all captured on a soft potato bun. WOW! This sandwich slider just melts in your mouth giving you a variety of flavors that compliment each other so well you try to remember each one as it passes over you tongue. Chef Marco, from the charming B & B in Norwich, Connecticut Historic District called Lathrop Manor has these salmon B.L.T. sliders down to perfection so well that it seems everyone in the neighborhood has had one! Make sure to take notice of the homemade lemon aioli recipe which is really lovely and goes with so many foods as shown below on grilled vegetables.

Marco and his wife Sheryl bought this 5500 sq. ft. B & B back in 2005 coming from a 700 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan. Talk about a culture shock. They then put their heart and soul into the Lathrop Manor making it what it is today and filling the empty building with beautiful period pieces bringing it all together. You couldn’t ask for more gracious hosts then Marco and Sheryl with their warmth and compassion making your visit here a very special place to be.

Lathrop Manor as been written up in Yankee Magazine as well by a Kim Beckius who has written several books about New England B & B’s. You shouldn’t miss the opportunity to stay here and meet Marco and Sheryl, and experience their gourmet fare. Chef Marco can cook up a storm like nobody’s business which is evident their in B & B’s five course breakfast! Hope you enjoy the show and don’t forget to let me know how much you love these gourmet salmon B.L.T. sliders! You might just get inspired and make Pavlova for dessert!

Ingredients for Marco’s Salmon B.L.T. Sliders – makes approx. 20 sliders:

1 1/2 -2 lb. fresh Sockeye Salmon, have fishmonger fillet (remove skin) and de-bone
1/2 lb sliced Pancetta (you’ll need as many slices as sliders that you are making)
Arugula
olive oil
fresh lemons
lemon aioli
Potato buns
Compari tomatoes sliced
s & p
Marco’s homemade lemon aioli

Directions For Marco’s Salmon B.L.T. Sliders :

Make homemade lemon aioli recipe below
Pre-heat the oven to 400º
Place piece of parchment onto cookie sheet and place pancetta slices onto parchment
Bake pancetta slices for approx. 12 minutes (you can leave slices on the tray when done cooking until you make the sandwich sliders)
Slice salmon fillets in approx. 2 1/2 ” pieces
Season salon with s & p on both sides
Heat lg fry pan on med/high heat
Add 3 tbsp to pan and begin to add salmon squares 4-6 at a time
Sear on first side approx 1 1/2 minutes and flip (it will release when it ready)
Sear 2nd side 30 seconds and remove to platter
Dress arugula with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp lemon juice and a sprinkle of s & p and toss (light dressing)
On a large platter line up top and bottoms of potato rolls
Smear a tsp of aioli on each side of the bun halves
Begin to build gourmet salmon B.L.T. sliders
Layer potato bun, aioli, pancetta, salmon, tomato slice, small mound of arugula and top with bun that has a smear of aioli
Buon Appetito!

Ingredients for Marco’s Homemade Lemon Aioli:

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp fresh lemon Juice
Zest from 1 lemon
1 heaping tbsp finely chopped shallots
1 tsp fresh garlic finely chopped or through garlic press
1/4 tsp salt
sprinkle fresh pepper
1 heaping tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
2-3 tbsp grape seed oil (or Olive oil)

Directions for Homemade Lemon Aioli:

Add egg yolk to large glass bowl
Add in Dijon, lemon zest, lemon juice, shallots, garlic
- Whisk to mix
- Begin to drizzle in olive oil, then switch to grape seed oil all awhile whisking constantly to emulsify ingredients into thick texture
Add s & p to taste and set aside

Gourmet Frittata

March 16, 2019August 2, 2015 by Michel

Gourmet Frittata

The Frittata first came about as practical dish in theory for using up those leftovers in our frig but when adding in some lovely melting cheeses and a pinch of dairy it turns into something much more then that. Not to mention this Italian egg dish is just as delicious served room temperature as it is warm.

Making a gourmet frittata is as easy as can be leaving you with lots of room to be creative. The measurements do not have to be exact at all to get wonderful results. You can use 10-12 eggs, and mix in heavy cream, half and half, sour cream, or even creme fresh. You can also change out the cheeses to one that you prefer. Use feta or goat cheese, cheddar, Monterey Jack, Pepper jack, Colby-jack, Swiss or Gruyère, Parmesan and so on. It’s nice to mix it up too using a combination of these cheeses. I really love using up the leftover veggies in the fridge and don’t mind sautéing up one or two more to enhance the leftovers.

By no means does this homemade frittata have to remain a vegetarian either! Pack in the meat using chunks or slices of ham, cooked sausages, bacon, steak and well that list goes on too. I think the trick here is not to fuss too much, be sure to add a little dairy and be sure not to over cook the frittata thinking that it’s not done enough because you see a little movement in the center when taking it out of the oven. Remember it will keep cooking after you take it out of the oven and it will also congeal a bit with the cooling process. Enjoy the show and making this yummy gourmet frittata! You may want to try some grilled Asian Salmon or Caesar Salad with this frittata too.

Ingredients:

12 extra-lg eggs
1/2 cup half & half, heavy cream or creme fresh
1 1/2 cup gruyere cheese ( 1/2 cup is for the topping) OR 1/2 cup cheddar, 1/2 gruyere with addtional 1/2 cup mix of each for the topping
1/3 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan
8 oz. pkg baby bella mushrooms sliced
1 1/2 cup chopped or sliced onions
6 small tomatoes sliced 1/8″ thick to decorate top of frittata before you bake it
1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp into eggs & 1/4 tsp each for onion/mush. and 1/4 tsp when you add kale)
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp Siracha (or more…to taste)

Directions :

Pre-heat oven to 350º
Wash and dry kale leaves
Remove kale leaves from the ribbing (stalk) as shown in show
Slice mushrooms, onions, kale and tomatoes – set aside
Whisk 12 eggs, then whisk in 1/2 tsp salt. 1/4 tsp finely ground pepper and half and half
Add 3 tbsp olive oil to 10″ cast iron pan or oven proof pan on med/high heat
Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes
Add mushrooms to onions and 1/4 tsp salt, then sauté another 5 minutes on med/high
Add in kale when juices begin to release from the mushrooms along with another 1/4 tsp salt and sprinkle of pepper, and a few shots of Siracha
Sauté kale mixture for 5 minutes while stirring just to wilt slightly
Add 1 cup of gruyere and 1/2 cup of parm to egg mixture and give it a quick stir
Turn off heat on cast iron pan and add in egg mixture
Give it a stir to the veggies and egg mixture
Then top with 1/2 cup more gruyere cheese and decorate with sliced tomatoes
Put into the oven and bake for approx. 23 minutes
Take a peak at the 20 minute mark to make sure that the top hasn’t gotten golden
You only want slight golden on outer edge
Take out frittata and let sit for 20-30 minutes
NOTE: the frittata will keep cooking after you remove it from the oven
Slice and serve with a sprinkle of grated Reggiano Parmesan on top